Creating JPA entity with composite primary key with #Id from #MappedSuperclass - jpa

Question

I have a class hierarchy for JPA entities with the base class being a MappedSuperclass which has one ID defined. I am trying to use a composite key in a subclass however that does not seem to work
My code looks like this
#MappedSuperclass
public class BaseEntity implements Serializable {
#Id
#GeneratedValue(strategy = GenerationType.IDENTITY)
#Basic(optional = false)
#Column(name = "id")
protected Long id;
public Long getId() {
return id;
}
public void setId(Long id) {
this.id = id;
}
}
#Entity
#EntityListeners(EntityBaseListener.class)
#Inheritance(strategy=InheritanceType.JOINED)
#Table(name = "catalog_entity")
public class BaseCatalogEntity extends BaseEntity {
#Column(name = "created_at", nullable = false)
#Temporal(TemporalType.TIMESTAMP)
private Date createdAt;
#Column(name = "updated_at", nullable = false)
#Temporal(TemporalType.TIMESTAMP)
private Date updatedAt;
public void setCreatedAt(Date date)
{
createdAt = date;
}
public void setUpdatedAt(Date date)
{
updatedAt = date;
}
public Date getCreatedAt() {
return createdAt;
}
public Date getUpdatedAt() {
return updatedAt;
}
}
#Entity
#Table(schema = "student_catalog")
#IdClass(value = StudentCatalog.StudentCatalogPK.class)
public class StudentCatalog extends BaseCatalogEntity {
#Id
#Column(name = "name", nullable = false, length = 100)
private String name;
#Id
#Column(name = "version", nullable = false)
private Integer version;
#Column(name = "description" , length = 255)
private String description;
#Column(name = "vendor" , length = 50)
private String vendor;
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
public Integer getVersion() {
return version;
}
public void setVersion(Integer version) {
this.version = version;
}
public String getDescription() {
return description;
}
public void setDescription(String description) {
this.description = description;
}
public String getVendor() {
return vendor;
}
public void setVendor(String vendor) {
this.vendor = vendor;
}
public static class StudentCatalogPK implements Serializable {
private Long id;
private String name;
private Integer version;
public Long getId() {
return id;
}
public void setId(Long id) {
this.id = id;
}
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
public Integer getVersion() {
return version;
}
public void setVersion(Integer version) {
this.version = version;
}
#Override
public boolean equals(Object obj) {
boolean result = false;
if(obj != null && (obj instanceof StudentCatalogPK)) {
StudentCatalogPK other = (StudentCatalogPK)obj;
result = (Objects.equals(this.id, other.id) && Objects.equals(this.name, other.name) &&
Objects.equals(this.version, other.version));
}
return result;
}
#Override
public int hashCode() {
return (27780 + (this.id != null ? this.id.hashCode() : 0) +
(this.version != null ? this.version.hashCode() : 0) +
(this.name != null ? this.name.hashCode() : 0));
}
}
}
I get the following exception:
Exception Description: Invalid composite primary key specification. The names of the primary key fields or properties in the primary key class [com.example.jpa.StudentCatalog$StudentCatalogPK] and those of the entity bean class [class com.example.jpa.StudentCatalog] must correspond and their types must be the same. Also, ensure that you have specified ID elements for the corresponding attributes in XML and/or an #Id on the corresponding fields or properties of the entity class.
I am using Eclipselink 2.5.1. Is there a way I can get this to work without changing the BaseEntity and BaseCatalogEntity classes?

Answer 1

It is not legal in JPA to redefine the id in subclasses. This would lead to ambiguities in the table mappings as well as in polymorphic queries.
The desire to extend the key defined in a superclass is a common issue when business keys are used for DB identity. I would advise to use only surrogate keys (like UUID) for DB identity and business keys for instance identity.

Answer 2

Under following conditions:
your base entity should use TABLE_PER_CLASS inheritance (and as I can see it is)
your base entity (composite key) key is of the same type as that one you want to have in your derived class (so there should be also composite key of String and Integer).
You can use #AttributeOverride annotation under class declaration, removing #Id fields from it:
#AttributeOverride(name = "id", column = #Column(name = "NAME"))
This - in result, can change column name in derived entity's table and that's the most you can acheive.

Answer 3

When using #MappedSuperClass, it would be advisable to make the BaseEntity Class as abstract and then extending the Base class from other Entity classes.
Cleaner approach keeping inheritance in mind and designing your application.